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Mawazine 2009
The 2009 festival, a nine-day event entitled "Rhythms of the World", was the eighth edition and began on 15 May, attracting crowds of one million people from cities such as Casablanca, Marrakech, Fez and Tangiers to Rabat. Admission cost between 100 and 500 dirhams (15 to 70 USD). 1700 performers performed in 2009. The opening three days featured acts such as Kylie Minogue, Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, K'naan, Hoba Hoba Spirit, Cheb Khaled, Najwa Karam, Warda Al-Jazairia, Ali Campbell (formerly of UB40), and Johnny Clegg of White Zulu. Other musical acts to feature include Mali's Amadou & Mariam, Cuban musician Eliades Ochoa, The Joubran Trio, three brothers from Palestine, and Iranian ensemble Eshtiaq. The festival opened with a concert by Ennio Morricone, accompanied by a Moroccan choir with ninety members, on the Bouregreg stage. This was followed by a Kylie Minogue performance on the OLM Souissi stage. Khaled's concert was attended by 50,000 people, whilst 40,000 and 30,000 attendance figures were registered for Kylie Minogue and Warda respectively. Stevie Wonder closed the festival on 23 May. Najwa Karam's performance was the first in Morocco; it attracted about 60,000 spectators. Warda Al-Jazairia was granted the "Wissam Royal". On May 23, 2009 at Hay Nahda stadium in Rabat, during the festival, at least eleven people were killed and forty were injured in a stampede shortly after midnight. The incident occurred when spectators attempted to leave in a hurry near the end of a free concert by Moroccan pop star Abdelaziz Stati. A wire fence collapsed during this attempt, endangering the lives of the 70,000 spectators. The concert had begun at 23:00, later than billed, and this caused people attending other concerts, including one by Stevie Wonder, to go to the stadium when their concerts were finished. The event had previously been moved from a smaller venue to meet a demanding crowd. Most of the injured were young. Eight of the victims were seriously injured. Five of the dead were women, four were men and two were teenagers. They were all discovered after the stampede had completed and found to have been suffocated by crushing. Survivors had to be pulled from the wreckage by rescuers. The dead were all Moroccan. Seven were still in hospital the following day. Hassan Lamrani, the Governor of Rabat, blamed concert-goers for the stampede, saying that they had "decided to go over the metal barriers to have a quick exit". However, one injured concert-goer questioned why police had shut the doors and had not intervened when the incident had become serious. There were 3,000 police on duty at the event. Maroc Cultures issued a statement to express "its great sorrow", extending "its profound and sincere condolences" to those affected by the tragedy. King Mohammed VI also sent the families of those affected messages of condolence and offered to pay for funeral services and hospital costs. Morocco's interior ministry has announced it will investigate the incident. Kylie Minogue Setlist: (15 May 2009) Act 1: Xlectro Static "Speakerphone" "Can't Get You Out of My Head" (contains elements of "Blue Monday" along with excerpts from "Boombox") "Ruffle My Feathers" "In Your Eyes" Act 2: Cheer Squad "Heart Beat Rock" (contains elements of "Mickey") "Wow" "Shocked" (DNA Mix) Act 3: Xposed "Like a Drug" "Slow" (with excerpts of "Free") "The One" "2 Hearts" Act 4: Black Versus White "On a Night Like This" "Kids" "Step Back in Time" "In My Arms" "Love at First Sight" (Ruff and Jam U.S. Remix) Act 5: Naughty Manga Girl "Sometime Samurai" (contains excerpts from "German Bold Italic") (Video Interlude) "Come into My World" (Fischerspooner Mix) (contains elements of "Finer Feelings" and "Dreams") "Nu-di-ty" "Sensitized" Act 6: Starry Nights "Flower" (an unreleased song from X) "I Believe in You" "Cosmic" Act 7: Beach Party "Loveboat" (contains elements of "The Love Boat Theme Song") "Copacabana" "That's Why They Write Love Songs" (an unreleased song co-written by Steve Anderson) "Spinning Around" (contains elements of "Got to be Real") Encore "No More Rain" "All I See"